Suit over state's education funding may move ahead to trial

A lawsuit challenging state government's public education funding and policies as unconstitutional may move ahead to trial, a circuit judge in Leon County ruled Thursday.

By Christopher CurryStaff writer

A lawsuit challenging state government's public education funding and policies as unconstitutional may move ahead to trial, a circuit judge in Leon County ruled Thursday.Plaintiffs, including the Alachua County-based political action committee Citizens for Strong Schools and Orange County's Fund Education Now, argue that the Legislature and the Florida Board of Education have violated a constitutional requirement to make the provision of a "high quality system of free public education" the "paramount duty" of the state.That language was added to the Florida Constitution in a 1998 referendum approved by 71 percent of voters.The lawsuit challenges the state's reliance on standardized testing, specifically the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, in evaluating students and schools. It also highlights the gradual shift in the burden of funding public education from state government to local school districts and the reduction in per-pupil funding.In the 2000-01 school year, state government provided 62 percent of the funding. That dropped to 44 percent by the 2009-10 school year. Funding per pupil, meanwhile, went from $8,567 in the 2006-07 school year to $6,873 in 2009-10. Poor studentperformance on the Grade 10 FCAT for reading, the state's low graduation rate compared with most other states in the country and low teacher pay were also highlighted in the legal challenge.State government sought to have the suit dismissed, arguing that the plaintiffs had no legal standing to bring a suit, that the judicial branch lacked the authority to determine if the state had met the constitutional requirement and that the Legislature had immunity.In denying the state's motion, Circuit Judge Jackie L. Fulford wrote that the state's argument was "ultimately" that the "Legislature has absolute discretion to implement any system, checked only by the ballot box."This conclusion renders the citizens' vote to create a new education article as meaningless and this provision a nullity," Fulford wrote of the state's defense.Quoting a Florida Supreme Court decision in a 2006 case, Jenkins wrote that the constitutional language on which the lawsuit is based was put in place exactly "to provide standards by which to measure the adequacy of the public education provided by the state."

In a press release Thursday, Mark McGriff, chairman of Citizens for Strong Schools, praised the decision."I'm very glad that we'll have our day in court," McGriff said."The state has not fulfilled the wishes of Florida's voters when it comes to supporting public education, and it should be held accountable."There's no timetable for when the case will go to trial. The lawsuit seeks to require the state to formulate a "remedial plan" to comply with the constitutional requirement.Contact Christopher Curry at 374-5088 or chris.curry@gvillesun.com.